NASHVILLE, Tenn. — When it comes to helping refugees, Protestant churches and their pastors are often separated by faith and fear, according to a new survey from LifeWay Research. Most pastors say Christians should lend a hand to refugees and foreigners, and believe caring for refugees is a privilege. But pastors say their churches are twice as likely to fear refugees as they are to help them. “Pastors believe Scripture tells Christians to care for refugees and foreigners,” said Ed … [Read more...]
Missourians: Your phone calls may save our religious freedom
I have written nearly 400 of these columns as editor of The Pathway and I am certain that this is one of the most important. The importance does not lie in my prose or in who I am. It lies in its subject matter. By the time you read this, the Missouri Senate will have begun spirited debate on one of the most essential pieces of legislation in its history. It is known as Senate Joint Resolution 39 (SJR 39), or the Missouri Religious Freedom Amendment. If approved, something that at this … [Read more...]
Missouri Baptists defend Missouri’s religious liberty
JEFFERSON CITY – Missouri Baptist leaders and church members were among a crowd of religious liberty defenders who gathered at the state capitol, Feb. 23, to support a Missouri Senate resolution that protects religious organizations and individuals from being penalized for their biblical beliefs about marriage. Senate Joint Resolution 39 (SJR-39), sponsored by Senator Bob Onder of Lake St. Louis, was taken up on the Missouri Senate floor March 7, and if it passes through both the Senate … [Read more...]
Late-breaking developments on Religious Freedom Bill
JEFFERSON CITY – Debate on Senate Joint Resolution 39 (SJR 39), otherwise called the Missouri Religious Freedom Amendment, began suddenly at 4:00 p.m., March 7, in the Missouri Senate. The timing of the debate caught opponents by surprise and unprepared. Speed has been an important component of Amendment supporters’ strategy. One observer commented, “I’ve never seen a bill move this fast.” The Democrats are expected to filibuster, and it is unknown what strategy might be employed by the … [Read more...]
Religious freedom battle about to heat up
Last summer Missouri Baptist Convention (MBC) Executive Director John Yeats asked me to organize a statewide effort to strengthen Missouri’s religious freedom laws following the U.S. Supreme Court decision that redefined marriage. For four months I had the privilege of leading discussions about the matter with lawmakers, State Capitol staffers and First Amendment scholars and attorneys. I am pleased to say that through hard work and much prayer a bill has been crafted and is being sponsored … [Read more...]
Scalia’s death clouds abortion, religious liberty cases
WASHINGTON (BP) – The death of Associate Justice Antonin Scalia not only brings about a battle over replacing him and elevates the Supreme Court as an issue in the presidential election, but it likely will affect two important cases in this term, including one involving pro-life laws that Missouri Baptists have supported and another about religious liberty. A third case, also involving religious liberty and with direct ties to Missouri, may not be impacted by Scalia’s absence immediately, … [Read more...]
MBC joins fight at Supreme Court
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Missouri Baptist Convention’s (MBC) Christian Life Commission (CLC) filed a friend of the court brief Feb. 3 with the U.S. Supreme Court in a case involving Texas abortion laws, the first case since 2007 that the high court as agreed to hear regarding statutory regulation of abortionists. The MBC filed its brief in Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt, which the Supreme Court has agreed to hear March 2. The brief addresses two provisions of the law that the U.S. Court … [Read more...]
Abortions continue to decline in Mo.
JEFFERSON CITY – Abortions in Missouri decreased by seven percent in 2014, according to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services’ annual vital statistics report. That year, 8,129 Missouri resident pregnancies were aborted compared with 8,740 in 2013. The 2014 number represents a 32 percent decrease from 2004, and a decrease of 62 percent since Missouri’s highest resident abortions in 1980 of 21,671. “While one aborted child is one too many, these encouraging numbers reflect … [Read more...]
Study: Monthly porn exposure the norm for teens
NASHVILLE (BP) – Half of teenagers and nearly three-quarters of young adults come across pornography at least monthly, and both groups on average consider viewing pornographic images less immoral than failing to recycle. Those are among the findings of a survey of 2,700 Americans released Tuesday (Jan. 19) by Josh McDowell Ministry and the Barna Group. McDowell Ministry and the Internet accountability software provider Covenant Eyes paid approximately a quarter-million dollars to … [Read more...]
LGBT activists target HLGU, SBU
WASHINGTON (WNS) – An LGBT activist group has singled out 56 Christian colleges – including two Missouri Baptist universities – in a recent report, claiming they use religious liberty as a “guise for discrimination” against LGBT students. Since 2013, according to the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), these 56 colleges have applied for partial exemptions to Title IX of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, citing views on transgenderism and homosexuality. Among the institutions singled out are 23 U.S. … [Read more...]
Oregon bakers pay fine, continue appeal
GRESHAM, Ore. (BP) – Christian bakers Aaron and Melissa Klein have paid the state of Oregon a fine of nearly $137,000 after refusing to violate their religious beliefs by baking a wedding cake for a lesbian couple, the Oregonian newspaper reported. The Kleins paid the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries $136,927.07 Dec. 28 with money contributed through a crowdfunding page after the Oregon labor commissioner seized just weeks before Christmas their personal bank accounts which totaled … [Read more...]
When God troubles you
There are so many things in life that require our decisions. One of the great things about being a follower of Christ is that the Word of God lifts the fog on many important decisions. Common sense says there are some things that are clearly the right thing to do. So what do you do when common sense is abandoned for expediency? What do you do when a culture “stiff arms” the parameters of God’s Word and considers His perspective antiquated and irrelevant? The convictional people of God … [Read more...]
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